Pahokee plane crash: Mid-flight crisis leaves pilot, 4 attorneys dead

Palm Beach Post (FL)

March 10-- Mar. 10--It was supposed to be a quick day trip, a short flight to Tampa and back so a team of attorneys could pitch their services to insurance executives on Florida's west coast.

But something went horribly wrong on the twin-engine plane's return trip Friday afternoon, sending it careening into Lake Okeechobee as its pilot struggled to make an emergency landing in Pahokee.

The crash, in shallow waters 400 yards from shore, killed the pilot and four attorneys from West Palm Beach-based law firm Peterson Bernard, leaving a swath of grieving family members across three counties.

The dead included attorneys Heather Bridwell, 43, of Jupiter; Matthew Fiorello, 36, of Palm Beach Gardens; Edwin "Ted" Mortell III, 54, of Stuart; and one of the firm's founders, Eric Peterson, 73, of Lighthouse Point.

Also among the victims was the plane's pilot, Eduardo Mulet, 45, of West Palm Beach, a licensed commercial pilot who worked as a computer technician contractor at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Federal authorities investigating the crash released no new details Saturday, but family members of the victims said it appeared the routine business trip turned deadly in the last stretches of the 185-mile return flight.

The plane was bound for North Palm Beach County Airport west of Palm Beach Gardens, relatives said. But the plane began having trouble midair, Fiorello told his wife via text message. Worried, he alerted her that the pilot was going to attempt an emergency landing at a small airport in Pahokee.

"He told me he loved me. He told me he loved the girls," Rachel Backoff Fiorello recalled Saturday. "He told me he couldn't talk right now because there was an issue on the plane and they were being diverted and trying to land."

The plane crashed in waters just north of the Palm Beach County Glades Airport around 3:30 p.m., authorities said. Rescue workers found the plane just 400 yards from shore and were able to recover five bodies, a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said.

Rachel and Matthew had married seven years earlier and were raising two young daughters in Palm Beach Gardens. Matthew sang in a local band and spent free time doting on his little girls. "He's the most loving, giving person," Rachel said. "He would do anything for anybody before doing something for himself."

The four attorneys had been Tampa-bound to visit an insurance company, where they were "trying to generate more business for the firm," said Jason Bridwell, husband of Heather Bridwell.

Jason and Heather, an avid exerciser, lived in Jupiter, where they were raising their 8-year-old daughter, Megan, and liked to spend sunny weekends boating on the Atlantic.

"I'm still trying to process everything," Jason said. "She has a husband and an 8-year-old daughter that she's leaving behind. We were a great family."

For their flight to Tampa, the attorneys had turned to Mulet, whose family was close to one of the attorneys and who was happy for an excuse to be airborne.

"He was doing it as a friend, as a favor," said Marianne Rodriguez, Mulet's niece. "Flying was his passion."

Rodriguez said the plane used in the flight, a Piper PA-23-250, had been retrieved from a flight school at North Palm Beach County Airport. Representatives from the private flight school located at the airport could not be reached Saturday evening.

Mulet tried to fly multiple times a week and worked as a flight instructor as well, Rodriquez said. A volunteer firefighter in New Jersey before he moved in Florida, he was active in Boy Scouts in Florida and enjoyed traveling with his wife, Cassandra.

"He was just a giving person," Rodriguez said, "to his friends, to his family."

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were continuing their probe Saturday.

Editor's Note: The following is the Post's updates and coverage from Saturday of the plane crash near Pahokee.

UPDATE 4:15

The wife of crash victim Matthew Fiorello said the plane was en route to the North Palm Beach County Airport, but was diverted to Pahokee after a problem during the flight.

"He was texting me from the plane. He told me he loved me. He told me he loved the girls. He told me he couldn't talk right now because there was an issue on the plane and they were being diverted and trying to land," said Rachel Backoff Fiorello, who married Matthew nearly seven years ago. They have two young daughters, ages 5 and 2.

In addition to being a lawyer, Fiorello was a local singer and musician. She said the four attorneys on the flight were good friends in addition to being colleagues at the firm.

"He's the most loving, giving person. He would do anything for anybody before doing something for himself," says his wife. "He was an incredible father and husband."

UPDATE: 2:30 p.m.

Four of the five victims of Friday's deadly plane crash in Lake Okeechobee were attorneys at the South Florida-based Peterson Bernard law firm. Among them were the law firm's founder, Eric Peterson, 73.

The firm, which has offices in West Palm Beach, Stuart and Fort Lauderdale, also lists victims Matthew Fiorello, 36, of Palm Beach Gardens, Heather Bridwell, 43, of Jupiter, and Edwin "Ted" Mortell III, 54, of Stuart among its attorneys.

The fifth victim, Eduardo Mulet, 45, of West Palm Beach, was a licensed commercial pilot, who also worked as a computer technician at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said Mulet was not an agency employee but serviced the agency's computers as an employee of a private contractor.

Peterson, of Lighthouse Point, was one of the firm's founding partners and oversaw its West Palm Beach office and focused on construction litigation, according to the firm's website. The firm's website lists 20 attorneys.

Bridwell, an avid boater with a passion for physical fitness and exercise, lived in Jupiter with her husband, Jason, and their 8-year-old daughter. Jason Bridwell said that Heather and her colleagues at the law firm were returning from a meeting with a client when the crash occurred.

"I'm still trying to process everything," Jason said. "She has a husband and an 8-year-old daughter that she's leaving behind. We were a great family."

UPDATE: The five victims of Friday's deadly plane crash in Lake Okeechobee were South Florida residents, three of them from Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office reported Saturday.

The victims were identified as Eduardo Mulet, 45, of West Palm Beach, Matthew Fiorello, 36, of Palm Beach Gardens, Heather Bridwell, 43, of Jupiter, Edwin Mortell III, 54, of Stuart, and Eric Peterson, 73, of Lighthouse Point.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators continued their probe Saturday into a deadly crash of a twin-engine Piper plane into Lake Okeechobee. The aircraft went down Friday afternoon in shallow waters upon its approach to the Pahokee airport, killing five people on board, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The Piper PA-23-250 plane had departed from Sheltair Aviation Services at Tampa International Airport and crashed just north of the Palm Beach County Glades Airport at about 3:30 p.m.

Rescue workers from PBSO's marine unit and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue found the plane just 400 yards from shore and were able to recover five bodies, a PBSO spokeswoman said. Authorities have not released the names of the victims.

Sheltair Aviation, a private aircraft firm based in Fort Lauderdale, unveiled a $6.5 million executive hangar complex at the Tampa airport less than three weeks ago.

A spokesman for the NTSB said updates would be announced on the agency's Twitter feed.

Check back for updates, as this is a developing story.

Palm Beach Post resporters Jorge Milian and Julius Whigham contributed to this story.

___

Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.